◆“Sweatshop” remains an important keyword

The word “sweatshop” (lit. “black company” in Japanese) was chosen as one of the winners of the 2013 Keyword of the Year Contest. While there is not a clear-cut definition for these kinds of companies, anti-sweatshop projects define them as “companies that have a high rate of employees who quit their jobs and where overwork-related trouble tends to occur, both of these being a result of employees being exploited under execrable working conditions, such as exceptionally long working hours and power harassment.”
This is a keyword that we saw every day on different kinds of media for a period of time, but we do not see it as often anymore, so many people may have been left feeling as if it was a temporary trend that is now gone.
However, according to a survey conducted by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC,) 1 in 4 workers feel that “their place of work is a sweatshop,” and this ratio increases to 1 in 3 especially among employees in their twenties.
These results suggest that “sweatshop” is still a keyword worthy of interest.

◆How does a company become acknowledged as a “sweatshop”?

The same survey asked every worker whether they thought that their workplace was a sweatshop or not. This was not decided following objective parameters, however, as is the case when thinking about harassment, whether employees felt that their company was a “sweatshop” depended highly on whether they felt that they were being made to work as in a sweatshop. It can be concluded that the way in which employees are made to work is a very important point in this regard.
According to the survey, the top reasons why employees think that their workplace is a “sweatshop” are: “being expected to work long hours,” “an insufficient pay,” “not being able to use their paid vacation days,” and “being expected to work overtime for free.”
From the point of view of preventing work problems, a way of getting rid of these factors is something that must be considered.

◆Whether a company is considered a “sweatshop” is regarded as an important factor when employees look for a new place of work

Also, after asking employees what would be the most important things that they would consider when looking for a new place of work, 1 in 3 of them replied that they would take into serious consideration whether there are rumors of the company being a sweatshop (or not.)
In a time of a shortfall in human resources, it could be said that whether a company is considered or not a sweatshop will greatly impact whether its recruiting activities succeed or not.
In terms of labor management, “sweatshop” is definitely a keyword that still requires attention.